Borough of Burnley
The Borough of Burnley is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a non-metropolitan district and borough. It has an area of and a population of , and is named after its largest town, Burnley. The borough is bounded by Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Pendle, Rossendale – all in Lancashire – and the borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire. It is governed by Burnley Borough Council, which is currently under no overall control following the 2019 local elections.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, when the former county borough of Burnley merged with the urban district of Padiham and part of Burnley Rural District.At this time Simonstone and the civil parish of North Town were included in the borough, with the two merging in 1983. However after a public campaign to move Simonstone into the Borough of Ribble Valley and Boundary Commission review completed in 1985, the part of North Town south of the A6068 Padiham Bypass was added to Ightenhill. Another part was transferred to Pendle district's Higham with West Close Booth and small adjustments occurred to the boundaries with Padiham and Hyndburn's Altham along the River Calder.
In 2007 its proposal to merge with neighbouring Pendle Borough Council to form a larger unitary authority was rejected by the government.
Governance
Burnley Borough Council has had a predominantly Labour controlled history, the party returned to power in 2012, after a period of leadership by the Liberal Democrats. Following the 2019 local election, Labour lost control of the council and a coalition of all the other parties formed a new executive. The borough comprises 15 wards electing a total of 45 councillors.Wards: Bank Hall, Briercliffe, Brunshaw, Coal Clough with Deerplay, Daneshouse with Stoneyholme, Gannow, Lanehead, Queensgate, Rosegrove with Lowerhouse, Rosehill with Burnley Wood, Trinity, and Whittlefield with Ightenhill, Cliviger with Worsthorne, Gawthorpe, and Hapton with Park.
The borough contains the civil parishes of Ightenhill, Habergham Eaves, Dunnockshaw, Hapton, Cliviger, Briercliffe, and Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood.
Padiham Town Council was established in 2002.
Since 2002, a number of BNP councillors have been elected in the borough, with the last councillor losing her seat in the Hapton with Park ward in 2012.
Geography
Places in the borough of Burnley include:Name | Civil parish | Classification | Co-ordinates |
Burnley | N/A | Town | |
Padiham | Padiham | Town | |
Hapton | Hapton | Village | |
Worsthorne | Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood | Village | |
Brownside | Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood | Hamlet | |
Walk Mill | Cliviger | Hamlet | |
Lane Bottom | Briercliffe | Hamlet | |
Mereclough | Cliviger | Hamlet | |
Southward Bottom | Cliviger | Hamlet | |
Overtown | Cliviger | Hamlet | |
Holme Chapel | Cliviger | Village | |
Hurstwood | Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood | Hamlet | |
Cockden | Briercliffe | Hamlet | |
Clowbridge | Dunnockshaw | Hamlet | |
Dunnockshaw | Dunnockshaw | Hamlet | |
Rogerham | Briercliffe | Hamlet |
, 2.Cliviger, 3.Dunnockshaw, 4.Habergham Eaves 5.Hapton, 6.Ightenhill, 7.Padiham, 8.Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood
Media gallery
Demography
The borough's population has fallen from a high of 130,339 in 1911 to an estimated 87,700 in 2005. Between 1991 and 2001, it fell by 2.6%. Its employment rate of 59.0% places it 261st out of 376 local authorities in England & Wales; just 12.6% of its workforce are graduates, placing it 325th out of 376 local authorities.
A 2010 report commissioned by the BBC and compiled by Experian ranked the borough as having the second lowest property prices in England, this combined with GCSE results and crime rates, led to the borough being ranked as the worst place in England.
Public services
Education
Education Services in the borough are provided and controlled by Lancashire County Council.Health
Health services in the borough are provided by East Lancashire Primary Care Trust and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, with additional services provided by the North West Ambulance Service and North West Air Ambulance.The Hospital Trust operates Burnley General Hospital, while the PCT operates the network of GP surgeries, and recently opened 2 Primary Health Care Centres in the borough.
Policing
Policing Services in the borough are provided by the Pennine division of Lancashire Constabulary based at Burnley Police station, and controlled by Lancashire County Council. Plans are in place to merge the pennine division into the neighbouring eastern division, based in Blackburn.Policing Services of the borough's Railways are provided by North West division of the British Transport Police – the nearest Transport Police office being in Preston.
Fire and rescue
Fire and rescue services in the borough are provided by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and controlled by Lancashire County Council.Waste and recycling
Refuse and Recycling Collections, and Street Cleansing services are the responsibly of the borough council, and these services are currently contracted to Urbaser Ltd.The borough Council has signed up to Lancashire's Municipal Waste Management Strategy, which specifies that the borough must recycle or compost 56% of all waste by 2015 and 61% by 2020.
There are currently 2 household waste recycling centres run by Lancashire County Council in the borough. One located on Grosvenor Street in Burnley and the second on Park Road in Padiham. Lancashire County Councils long term plans to replace the Burnley site with facility at Heasandford Industrial Estate on the north eastern edge of the town, where approved in 2010 despite local objections regarding the site's suitability. 3 months later they then announced the closure of the Padiham site as part of cost-cutting measures, increasing the unsuitability of the new Burnley site's location.
Freedom of the Borough
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Burnley.Individuals
- James McIlroy : December 2008.
- James Anderson : 8 December 2011.
Military Units
- HMS Active, RN: 1989.
Neighbouring districts